The Grace of God

Now, this is the sum of the law: You are to be kind, amiable and benignant in heart, word and deed; and even though they take your life, still you are to suffer all in love, and render thanks to your Lord.
 

Behold, thus a great deal is included in the short sentence, "Thou shalt not kill." Christ lived up to this; do the same, and you are a good Christian. When nailed to the cross, His name, which was above every name, and His honor were profaned by the Jews, while they reviled Him by words of the following and similar import: "Well, what a nice God He has! If He be God's Son, let Him come down!

Let His God come now, in whom He banked and boasted so much, and help Him!" (Matthew 27:43, Mark 15:32, Luke 23:35) Such words pierced His very heart, hurting Him more than all His other sufferings; still, He suffered all this with patience; He wept over His enemies, because they would have no part in the great benefit to be derived from His death; yea, He prayed for their sin. And in the face of this we are ready to snarl and growl over the least trifle, when asked to yield even a little to our neighbor.

Here you see how far we are still from Christ. It is indeed necessary to suffer with Christ, if we would enter with Him into glory. He has gone before, so we should follow, as St. Peter says, For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. (1Peter 2:21-23)

Now see what kind of an example St. Peter places before us; truly we should emulate it, endeavoring to be and to act like Him. But this we cannot do by nature; it follows that we without exception are the devil's own, there being not a man on earth that is found not guilty. Hence the sentence holds good: You must be likewise skillful, namely, good at heart, or you belong to perdition.

 

What then must we do? You must do as follows: You must acknowledge that you are condemned by the Law, and the devil's own property and that you are unable to rescue yourself by any power of your own. Therefore you must flee to God, pray Him to change you, or all is lost and ruined.

In view of this lay hold of His word and promise, that He will change you; this only will help you. Pray thus: "Oh my God, Thou hast placed Christ, Thine only beloved Son, before me as an example, so that I might lead a like life; but I am not able to do this. 0 my God, change me, grant me Thy grace!"

God then comes and says, "Behold, since you know yourself and seek grace from Me, I will change you and do as you desire. And though you are not so perfect as Christ, as indeed you should be, I shall nevertheless have My Son's life and perfection cover your imperfections." So you see we must always have something to keep us in the right humility and fear.

This is true comfort that does not rest on our ability, but on the fact that we have a gracious God, who forgives our sins; on the fact that we believe in Christ and not in our own worthiness, He cleansing us from day to day; on the fact that whenever we fall short, we should always place our hope and trust in Christ. See, this is the main drift of our Gospel.

Martin Luther